Spirituality & Practice (S&P) is a multi-faith website devoted to resources for spiritual journeys. While respecting differences among traditions, S&P celebrates what they share in common.
Spirituality & Practice (S&P) is a multi-faith website devoted to resources for spiritual journeys. While respecting differences among traditions, S&P celebrates what they share in common.
Gilead Reading Guide
Explore the themes of the beauty of existence, the complex blessings of family, and moral light and moral blindness in this guide to Marilynne Robinson's Gilead. Part of the We the People Book Club, a year-long program contemplating America’s past and possibilities, this guide was created for individual and group use.
February Practice: Consider Interbeing
Everything relies on everything else in the cosmos in order to manifest—whether a star, a cloud, a flower, a tree, or you and me. —Thich Nhat Hanh
A key principle of democracy is that individuals seek to advance the common good. Why this is important becomes clearer when we remind ourselves of the web of connections that thread through every aspect of our lives. As Thich Nhat Hanh writes,
Tenth of December Reading Guide
Explore the themes of systems and technology, tough ethical decisions, and class in this guide to George Saunder's Tenth of December. Part of the We the People Book Club, a year-long program contemplating America’s past and possibilities, this guide was created for individual and group use. Questions within each theme facilitate (1) your interpretation of the text, (2) your personal reflections inspired by your reading, and (3) practices for you to try that animate the book's democratic values.
January Practice: Seeing the Secret Goodness
This spiritual practice comes from Jack Kornfield in The Wise Heart.
Selected Poems of Walt Whitman and Maya Angelou Reading Guide
Explore the themes of equality and freedom, the power of the individual, and audacity and resilience in this guide to selected poems from Walt Whitman and Maya Angelou. Part of the We the People Book Club, a year-long program contemplating America’s past and possibilities, this guide was created for individual and group use. Questions within each theme facilitate (1) your interpretation of the text, (2) your personal reflections inspired by your reading, and (3) practices for you to try that animate the poems' democratic values.
We the People Book Club Guides
Supporting 12 months of reading and ways to practice your civic virtues. Use on your own, in groups, or sign up to join the online discussion. Find the complete reading list on the last page of any guide.
Revising Systems to Serve The Common Good
The decay spreads over the State, and the sweet smell is a great sorrow on the land. Men who can graft the trees and make the seed fertile and big can find no way to let the hungry people eat their produce. Men who have created new fruits in the world cannot create a system whereby their fruits may be eaten. And the failure hangs over the state like a great sorrow.
—John Steinbeck in The Grapes of Wrath
Feeling Heard, Seen, Useful in Community
The very essence of democracy is the absolute faith that while people must cooperate, the first function of democracy, its peculiar gift, is to develop each individual into everything that [one] might be. —Edwin H. Land
December Practice: Manners Matter
Democracy cannot flourish without civility, a.k.a. good manners. Such simple behaviors as saying “please” and “thank you” signal our respect for other people. Manners are important for any gathering when people are sharing views and trying to make decisions, including social media, where it’s far too easy to forget our manners or civility as our emotions and righteousness take over. In fact, since fall 2017 in “democracy conversations” that we and our partners have held, we’ve heard over and over how social media contributes to the growing divisions and incivility in our society.
Practicing Democracy with Your Faith Community
Eighteen ways your faith community can help strengthen the bonds within our democracy. Faith communities serve as pillars of light modeling civility and hospitality to the stranger; they boldly denounce injustice and offer programs to enhance the common good. Here are some ways your faith community can strengthen the bonds within our democracy.
Developed with Spirituality and Practice as part of the Practicing Democracy Project.